"Yo Lisa, switch places with me! I want some Ella time" the blonde called over when the other three got close to them again. They had done more than just one racing round anyway. Lisa had already broken her promise to come back to Jennie after that.
All three of them came over and Lisa let Ella's hand go to come up behind Jennie, clinging her hands to both her shoulders. "Hello there again."
"Hello." Jennie tried to sound casual and not smitten as fuck, like she felt everytime Lisa touched her.
"You got her?" Rosie looked up to Lisa, wiggling her eyebrows playfully at which Jennie almost wanted to hit her.
"I got her." Lisa replied, a snicker in her voice. Jennie couldn't look at her, because if she turned her head too much, she'd surely fall on her ass. Rosie let her go then and latched onto Ella and Jisoo.
"Can we go really fast in a train?" Ella was super excited, waving briefly at Jennie before taking off with her aunts.
Lisa turned Jennie around in a spin, hands firmly on her the smaller woman's shoulders. Jennie squealed a little scared, hands searching for something to hold onto, finding Lisa's forearms when she came face to face with the beautiful Thai again.
"D'you have fun with them?" Jennie asked when she found Lisa's eyes.
"Definitely. Jisoo is a real character."
"Yes she is..." The Korean nodded amused, simultaneously hoping that Jisoo hadn't said anything dumb or suggestive to Lisa. But she couldn't have, right? Because Ella had been with them most of the time. Jisoo had enough common sense not to say anything in front of Ella.
"How are you doing on the ice? You wanna go again?" Lisa tried to get her moving again, turning them around so she was once again going backwards with Jennie going forward.
"Only if you don't let me fall." Jennie exclaimed nervously with a little gasp at the unexpected turn they just did.
"Just trust me Jen." Lisa's eyes locked on Jennie's and Jennie felt something warm going through her. Her eyes briefly broke the contact and she looked down to Lisa's plumb lips. What would she give to find out what they taste like. If Jennie was still as bold and unapologetic as she had been as a teenager, it wouldn't take much to just lean forward and take what she wanted. Pretend to stumble and fall or just fall for real and get caught in Lisa's arms and going straight for the prize. It would be too easy. And a younger Jennie might have just done it. But now, she was all too aware of what she could possibly loose if she made the wrong move.
She looked back up to Lisa's brown doe eyes. Crap. The Thai had definitely seen her little indiscretion. She smiled and her eyes were even warmer than usual but she did not say anything. Jennie felt herself blushing but out here in the cold it was hard to tell the difference between being flustered or suffering frost bite.
They moved again. Lisa did elegant and precise movements backwards, pulling Jennie along who tried to bring her skates on the ice like all the other people did. She was concentrating hard on her legs.
"Jen?"
"Hm?"
"Would you like to come over for dinner tomorrow? Both of you?"
Jennie looked up at Lisa again and lost her balance in the same moment. Just like in her fantasy from before, Jennie stumbled forward unable to catch herself because the ice was slippery and she crashed into Lisa's arms who managed to hold her enough not to land both of them on the ground.
"Wow, wow, are you ok?" Lisa asked, stabilizing Jennie where she could. The Korean's knees were still wobbling and she clung herself to the taller woman. "Yeah... sorry, just... I lost my balance."
Jennie stood upright on her skates again but her and Lisa were a lot closer than before. The urge to be in Lisa's arms, to touch her... to kiss her even, overcame Jennie like a full on force. The attraction she felt towards the Thai woman came crashing down over her like a tsunami wave and Jennie had a hard time controlling her instincts. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't.
She wasn't a teenager anymore who kissed people just because she wanted to. There were repercussions now.
"Uhm... you were... asking about dinner?" Jennie tried to bounce back quickly. "You told me you don't cook."
Lisa laughed a little. "True. But I order. I'm a master in ordering food."
"Interesting." Jennie felt reassured when they got back to their silly bantering.
"Yeah, I mean, I was over at your place so much now, I want to return the favour. The cats already love Ella."
They were still very close. Lisa's arm around Jennie's waist and Jennie gripped onto the Thai's long forearms so she wouldn't fall again.
"Oh, does that mean I get to meet the cats too?" Jennie made no move to get out of the hold Lisa had her in. It made her heart beat stronger and her insides tingle warmly.
"Of course." Lisa smiled and did not try to distance herself from Jennie either. "I could order from the Italian place you liked. Where I got the soup from."
"Funghi Pizza for Ella and anything with shrimp for me please." Jennie winked, meeting Lisa's big eyes. She felt like she was sixteen again, everytime she looked into Lisa's eyes. That was probably the last time she had a serious crush on anybody. On Ella's father to be exact. Until he turned out to be a scared little asshole who wouldn't take responsibility for his actions.
"Done." Lisa grinned right back. "Tomorrow at seven?"
"That's perfect." Jennie smiled back softly. She chanced another glance at Lisa's mouth. Just because she was so close. She knew that Lisa noticed and the hand on her waist tightened a little. There was tension between them. A subtle and soft tension. And this time, Jennie wasn't so quick to dismiss it as friendly affection anymore.
Could Rosie and Jisoo be right? Could Lisa actually like her too? Or was she maybe starting to?
"Jen... I..." The Thai began nervously, searching for Jennie's eyes but right at that moment Ella came skating up to them, braking with a spray of ice to their legs right next to Lisa and Jennie. "What are you guys doing?" Ella looked from one to the other. Jennie let Lisa go in an instant. Lisa's hand though stayed with Jennie, although very subtly.
"Ella get back here!" Jisoo's voice called after Jennie's daughter a lot sterner than she would usually talk to her niece. Jennie knew that Jisoo had most probably noticed what Ella had just interrupted. Her best friend always had her eyes everywhere and Jennie had indeed realized that the married couple had taken Ella away from Jennie and Lisa for the most part, distracting her.
Jennie grabbed Ella's shoulders, holding onto her a little and Lisa's hand left her. Jennie felt it with a slight sting in her chest. "I almost fell and Lisa saved me. I'm really not made for ice skating." She joked, shaking Ella a little.
"You'll get the hang of it... eventually." The girl teased her Mom.
"Yeah, I don't think so..." Jennie laughed a little and looked over at Lisa who was very quiet and had retreated out of Jennie's personal space. There was something guarded in her eyes now that Jennie hadn't seen before. She scrunched her brows together hardly noticeable.
Jisoo and Rosie joined them. "Ella, don't leave when I'm in the middle of telling a joke. I know they're bad but I'm your auntie, you have to bear with me and my bad jokes." Jisoo ruffled Ella's pink beanie on her head, sending an apologetic look over to Lisa. Which surprised Jennie a little.
"Ok, how about some hot chocolates before we call it a night? My legs hurt." Rosie interfered with a brilliant suggestion to which everyone nodded excitedly.
"One more round!" Ella shrieked and escaped pretty fast with Jisoo following her. "Go get her babe!" Rosie cheered on her wife and turned to make her way off the ice.
Jennie, who was left alone with no one to hold, tried to turn around on her own but wobbled terribly. She was really not made for skating. "Lisa?" She held out both of her hands to the side like a child in order to gain some balance and fumble to where Lisa was.
It took a second too long for the Thai to react but she was at Jennie's side again, taking her hand. "Sorry... I'm here." She sounded weird. What happened? They had been so close not two minutes ago and Jennie had even felt close to her emotionally. But now Lisa seemed more distant.
It painfully reminded Jennie of the dates who reacted badly to her telling them that she was a Mom. Jennie's chest felt tight and the tingly sensation from Lisa's hand wouldn't quite reach her heart like it usually did. Had Jennie overstepped by letting herself be held like that with Lisa?
Jennie stayed quiet and Lisa did too while they made their way off the ice together. Lisa still made sure that no harm would come to the Korean woman and her bad ice skating skills.
They gave back their skates and wandered over the only stand that was still open selling hot drinks. "On us!" Jisoo grinned. "For letting us crash your weekend."
She got five hot chocolates with whipped cream and rainbow sprinkles on top.
"Thanks Unnie, you didn't have to pay for mine though." Lisa met Jisoo's eyes.
"Bullshit." Jisoo shook her head. Jennie instantly glared at her which made Jisoo's eyes widen and she took Ella's shoulder. "Ella don't ever say Bullshit."
Ella just rolled her eyes just like Jennie did at the exact same time. Sometimes Jennie wondered how on earth they managed not to screw Ella up completely.
They found a table to stand at and clinked their mugs together in cheers.
Jennie drank from the hot chocolate. It was warm and sweet but something inside of her still didn't feel right. Lisa was next to her but there was no warm touch anymore.
"Oooooh, look!" Rosie pointed up. "Mistletoe." Jennie looked up too. There was indeed a little mistletoe hanging from the roof of the stall directly over their table.
"Everyone gets a kiss." The Australian cooed and was met with her wife's hand on her face, directing her towards her lips. They shared a sweet kiss.
Jennie pulled Ella in by her shoulders next to her and pressed a big firm kiss to her cheek. "Mom..." the girl giggled a little, not quite ready to give in to her teenage side of refusing her mother's affections.
"Lisa, you have to kiss Jennie." Jisoo pointed towards both of them. Jennie wanted to scold her best friend but then she felt the hand on the small of her back that she had bitterly missed. Lisa leaned closer and placed a soft little kiss to Jennie's temple and all the good feelings came rushing back. Especially when Lisa's hand did not disappear again like her lips had done.
"Why do you have to kiss people under a mistletoe?" Ella spoke up confused. "That is such a weird thing to do, right?"
Jennie was back to tingling all over. She really hoped that Lisa's hand stayed so she leaned into it slightly so the Thai noticed. She did and sent Jennie a small nervous smile without anyone else noticing.
"I actually have no idea why..." Jisoo pondered and pulled Rosie close again, kissing her cheek. "but I like it."
"I'm gonna look it up on the way home." Rosie assured Ella. "Every tradition comes from somewhere. I think it'd be interesting to know."
Jennie felt Lisa's hand moving slightly on her back, almost as if she was softly stroking her. The Korean woman breathed in, trying to calm her pulse. Then she subtly switched hands on her mug while everyone was still talking about the most stupid christmas customs that people did.
"Yeah... like what the hell is a Yule Club? I never actually got that..." Ella asked and Rosie launched into an explanation.
Jennie just listened to them and sneakily dropped her hand to her side. She reached to her back where Lisa's hand was softly moving and touched it. Jennie felt Lisa freeze. They did not look at each other but appeared to be listening to the on-going conversation although that was far from the truth.
Jennie took Lisa's hand, her movements as subtle as possible and guided it down between them. Lisa was still a bit frozen and she did not latch onto Jennie's hand. Jennie emphasized her intention by sliding her hand inside of Lisa's, squeezing softly before staying interlocked with her under the table. Lisa seemed to have understood that Jennie did not want to get rid of her hand but hold it instead because she gently bore her fingers in between Jennie's, intertwining them intimately.
Jennie's insides were burning. Holy shit. She was holding hands with Lisa under the table. And the Thai did not pull away. If anything, she stepped a half-step closer so their shoulders where touching too, making this even more comfortable.
They held each other's hand throughout the whole time and Jennie couldn't help but wonder about the Thai's feelings on this. Because it didn't feel like friendly affection anymore. It felt like flirting. It felt like slowly getting closer and seeing if there was something more.
Later, on the way back to the car, Lisa led Jennie to links arms with each other again and when Rosie took Ella into her and Jisoo's middle with a soft "Come on Ella bear", walking in front of Jennie and Lisa, the Thai intertwined their hands again warmly without commenting on what they did.
"So, dinner tomorrow at yours?" Jennie breathed out, lowering her voice just a tad.
"I'll be the one heating up the food, pretending that I cooked it myself." Lisa snickered back quietly, nudging Jennie's shoulder softly, their hands still tightly interlocked.
The Korean laughed. She was so god damn smitten with this woman.
"I'll be the one bringing dessert even though you'll probably tell me that I didn't have to."
"Sounds good."